Awareness Detection and Communication in Disorders of Consciousness 2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EEG based Awareness Detection and Communication in Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness and Physical Disability
IRAS ID
247815
Contact name
Damien Coyle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Severely altered consciousness most often occurs as a result of brain injury. Some injuries are mild and may cause relatively minor changes in consciousness however a condition may arise where a person is considered to be in a vegetative state, where they are "awake" but unaware. Up to 43% of patients with vegetative state diagnosis are reclassified as minimally conscious after further assessment by clinical experts. Many of those in the minimally conscious state (MCS) and all in vegetative state (VS) are incapable of providing any overt motor responses and therefore, in some cases, existing consciousness scales are not wholly sufficient for assessment. There is evidence that a subset of patients with these prolonged disorders of consciousness (DoC) can, modulate their brain activity in response to instructions to perform, voluntarily, mental imagery or when attending to stimuli, presented either auditorily or visually. With these findings we have gathered evidence that electroencephalogram (EEG)-based bedside detection of awareness is possible using Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology. BCI technology can provide an alternative communication channel to the physically impaired (PI) which does not depend on neuromuscular control or overt motor control.
Study 1 of the project aims to validate the use of EEG-based BCI technology in assessing patients who are in low awareness/unresponsive states and assessing the possibility of using the technology to support diagnosis in clinical practice.
Study 2 of the project aims to apply EEG-based BCI technology with participants who have shown significant brain activation in study 1 with the aim of determining if some patients might be capable of using a BCI as an alternative communication device. Normally BCI technology requires training and feedback over 10+ sessions, each session lasting up to 1.5 hours. Study 2 will involve conducting at least 10 sessions with selected participants.REC name
Scotland A: Adults with Incapacity only
REC reference
18/SS/0064
Date of REC Opinion
8 Jan 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion